Archive for July, 2015

So I’m up to conditional perfect tense in my Italian learning (basically, constructs using the phrase “would have”). I thought I’d collect the set of translation exercises I just did and record them here. I got most of them right – I’ve marked the three incorrect responses I gave with a note in parentheses.

Dove mi avresti portato? -> Where would you have taken me?
Avrei pensato a te. -> I would have thought of you.
Te lo avrei dato. -> I would have given it to you.
Sarei arrivato in tempo. -> I would have arrived in time. (I wrote “on time”)
Non l’avrei messa via. -> I would not have put it away.
Chi avrebbe parlato di noi? -> Who would have spoken about us? (“to us”)
Mi avrebbero preso per pagliaccio. -> They would have taken me for a clown.
Tu non avresti parlato con me. -> You would not have spoken with me.
I would not have put it away. -> Non l’avrei messa via.
I did not know when it would have arrived. -> Non sapevo quando sarebbe arrivato.
He said that he would have thought about it. -> Ha detto che ci avrebbe pensato.
Avresti chiesto? -> Would you have asked?
Lui sarebbe diventato ricco. -> He would have become rich.
Finalmente mi avresti creduto. -> Finally you would have believed me. (omitted “would”!)
Io avrei lasciato quel posto. -> I would have left that place.
I vicini l’avrebbero sentita. -> The neighbours would have heard it.
Il popolo non avrebbe capito. -> The people would not have understood.
Io non l’avrei tenuta. -> I would not have held her.
Would you have asked? -> Avresti chiesto?
I miei amici mi avrebbero creduto. -> My friends would have believed me.
I would have become really fat. -> Sarei diventato davvero grasso. (“Avrei” instead of “Sarei” – I always forget the correct auxiliary for diventare.)

I was idly checking where in the world I’ve been to that has the highest northern latitude, and wondering if my recent trip to Sapporo, Japan, set a new mark. But no, Sapporo is a mere 43.1°N, beaten by the following places I’ve been:

Given where Mossburn is and the reason why it’s the southernmost point I’ve been to, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was also the southernmost point of many other people. But I doubt Stade is the northernmost point of very many people (other than maybe people born there who’ve never travelled).